Filed: Oct. 09, 2014
Latest Update: Mar. 02, 2020
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 13-1619 JAMES N. HUTCHERSON, JR.; SHARON T. HUTCHERSON, as wife of James N. Hutcherson, Jr., Plaintiffs - Appellants, v. CHAE Y. LIM, individually and in his professional/employment capacity, Defendant – Appellee, and WASHINGTON METROPOLITAN AREA TRANSIT AUTHORITY, d/b/a WMATA, Defendant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, at Greenbelt. Roger W. Titus, Senior District Judge. (8:08-cv-030
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 13-1619 JAMES N. HUTCHERSON, JR.; SHARON T. HUTCHERSON, as wife of James N. Hutcherson, Jr., Plaintiffs - Appellants, v. CHAE Y. LIM, individually and in his professional/employment capacity, Defendant – Appellee, and WASHINGTON METROPOLITAN AREA TRANSIT AUTHORITY, d/b/a WMATA, Defendant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, at Greenbelt. Roger W. Titus, Senior District Judge. (8:08-cv-0304..
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UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 13-1619
JAMES N. HUTCHERSON, JR.; SHARON T. HUTCHERSON, as wife of
James N. Hutcherson, Jr.,
Plaintiffs - Appellants,
v.
CHAE Y. LIM, individually and in his professional/employment
capacity,
Defendant – Appellee,
and
WASHINGTON METROPOLITAN AREA TRANSIT AUTHORITY, d/b/a WMATA,
Defendant.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of
Maryland, at Greenbelt. Roger W. Titus, Senior District Judge.
(8:08-cv-03044-RWT)
Submitted: September 25, 2014 Decided: October 9, 2014
Before KING, GREGORY, and DUNCAN, Circuit Judges.
Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Anitha Johnson, ODELUGO & JOHNSON, LLC, Lanham, Maryland, for
Appellants. Gerard J. Stief, Chief Counsel, Kathryn Pett,
General Counsel, WASHINGTON METROPOLITAN AREA TRANSIT AUTHORITY,
Washington, D.C., for Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
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PER CURIAM:
James N. Hutcherson, Jr., appeals the district court’s
order denying his Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 59(a) motion
for a new trial. On appeal, Hutcherson argues that the district
court erred in admitting certain documentary evidence and that
the jury’s award is inconsistent with its verdict on liability.
Finding no reversible error, we affirm.
Hutcherson first contends that the district court
erred in admitting a final medical evaluation because it
contained hearsay. “We review a trial court’s rulings on the
admissibility of evidence for abuse of discretion, and . . .
will only overturn an evidentiary ruling that is arbitrary and
irrational.” United States v. Cole,
631 F.3d 146, 153 (4th Cir.
2011) (internal quotation marks omitted). We will not, however,
“set aside or reverse a judgment on the grounds that evidence
was erroneously admitted unless justice so requires or a party’s
substantial rights are affected.” Creekmore v. Maryview Hosp.,
662 F.3d 686, 693 (4th Cir. 2011).
Assuming, without deciding, that the district court
erred in admitting the medical evaluation, we conclude that the
court’s actions did not affect Hutcherson’s substantial rights.
In light of the testimonial evidence offered at trial, we
conclude that the contents of the evaluation report were not so
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prejudicial that the document’s admission affected the outcome
of the trial.
Second, Hutcherson contends that the jury’s award of
zero damages is inconsistent with its verdict on liability. He
argues that, contrary to the district court’s finding, he did
not waive this claim by failing to object to the verdict before
the jury was discharged. We conclude, however, that Hutcherson
did waive his objection to any alleged inconsistencies by
failing to object to the general verdict prior to the jury’s
discharge. See White v. Celotex Corp.,
878 F.2d 144, 146 & n.2
(4th Cir. 1989) (distinguishing special and general verdicts and
holding that failure to object to purported inconsistencies in a
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 49(b) general verdict form prior
to jury’s discharge constitutes waiver of right to seek a new
trial on that basis); see also Austin v. Paramount Parks, Inc.,
195 F.3d 715, 725-27 (4th Cir. 1999) (concluding that district
court properly denied motion for entry of judgment under Rule
49(b) because defendant did not object to alleged
inconsistencies in general verdict prior to jury’s discharge).
Accordingly, we conclude that the district court did
not abuse its discretion in denying Hutcherson’s Rule 59(a)
motion. See Tire Eng’g & Distrib., LLC v. Shandong Linglong
Rubber Co.,
682 F.3d 292, 313 (4th Cir. 2012) (providing
standard of review). We therefore affirm the district court’s
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order. We dispense with oral argument because the facts and
legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials
before this court and argument would not aid the decisional
process.
AFFIRMED
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